Wait for reports delays Hughes sentencing

A man who dragged a girl off her bike and over a barbed wire fence into a park will be sentenced in September.

Timaru man Blaine Ross Hughes, 20, pleaded guilty in the High Court at Timaru to charges of attempted murder, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, theft, burglary, possession of an offence weapons and possession of a firearm.

The charges relate to an incident on December 3, 2013, when Hughes dragged a young girl off her bike near Sir Basil Arthur Park.

Hughes had been smoking synthetic cannabis and approached the victim who was riding her bike past the park, the court heard. He pulled her off her bike and dragged her backwards over a barbed wire fence into an area hidden from the road.

A witness who saw Hughes take the girl went to her aid.

In the court today, sentencing was adjourned until September 15 when he appeared after the Crown sought an adjournment because it was waiting the results of two court-directed health reports.